13 Match Star Ratings For WWE Extreme Rules 2019

13. KICKOFF: Finn Bálor Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - Intercontinental Title Match

Short but not bad short - there wasn't enough time for Shinsuke Nakamura to do nothing, slowly, in the space between moves - a respectful crowd excited for the night ahead even raised the volume during an unending modified guillotine choke.

This was very much "a match". This was a match that, despite the dreaded "glancing blow" euphemism, was competently worked by two performers who know how to extract excitement from the meaningless. Some excitement. This was really quite mundane, come to think of it, but it was committed. Nakamura does Taiji Ishimori's sliding German suplex justice. It's a difficult move to execute without it looking like the recipient is bumping, and Nakamura has retained enough of his old speed and snap to pull it off.

That the Intercontinental title was defended and switched here is a telling indication of how little it matters. This even, hollow match lasted just 7:40, arrived with zero fanfare, and the action wasn't anything we haven't seen before. It was an unremarkable match crafted by two performers who have never felt more unremarkable.

This felt more like a narrative reset than a title match.

Star Rating: **3/4